Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/582418
ByJanieMcCauley TheAssociatedPress OAKLAND Ben Gordon ate avo- cados any time of day for their healthy fat, and also fueled his workouts with oatmeal and dif- ferent juices or nutrient-rich smoothies. Gordon went the vegan route — no dairy or meat — for a stretch a few months back. "With that diet you have to kind of be creative," the new Golden State guard said. "At that time I had a chef so it was a lit- tle bit easier." Gordon is back to a more "nor- mal" diet as the season gets un- derway and he looks to play a part on the defending NBA champions. He is eating meat again to gain back some of the weight he lost as a vegan for about the fi- nal six weeks of the season last spring and several weeks of the offseason. He needed a bit more strength to handle the rigors of an NBA schedule, yet his energy increased on the diet and he felt "a lot lighter and faster." The 6-foot-2 Gordon got down to his high school weight of 185, but noticed he wasn't quite as strong and built himself back up to his typical playing weight at around 200 pounds. "I experimented with that this summer and throughout the end of last season," he said. "As you get older you try to see differ- ent things that work for you. I'm not doing it right now but I kind of use it functionally depending how my body feels. But with all the running, protein is hard to come by sometimes when you're doing the vegan thing. I just like to mix it up." The 32-year-old Gordon, a Lon- don native and the third overall pick by Chicago out of Connecti- cut in 2004, averaged 6.2 points last season with Orlando. He en- ters his 12th NBA season looking to give Golden State another reli- able shooter coming off the bench — something the Warriors have wanted. Gordon wanted to be part of a winning situation, and he got that all right. "You always have to prove your- self,"hesaid."Withthisteam,they won a championship so for me it's just trying to mesh with the guys and not try to do too much. The league is so much about being in the right situation, being with the right group of guys that mesh with your talents and skills. This team here, the style of play is just a lot of ball movement and unself- ish play, and they're not shy about shooting so I think that's right up my alley. They don't have a guy on the bench who shoots a high arc from the 3-point line." Sure, committing to be a role player might be considered a risk for a guy who has long been a starter, yet Gordon is confident he will find his place on the de- fending champions and, he hopes, help the Warriors make another special postseason run. "He's been around a long time but he's still got gas in the tank," coach Steve Kerr said prior to tak- ing a leave of absence last week to fully recover from back surgery. "He's a good shooter, good scorer. You don't have to have a tradi- tional point guard in that role because Shaun (Livingston) and Andre (Iguodala) off the bench handle the ball. So he would be a good fit." WARRIORS Gordongoesveganforastint Noticesimprovedenergyduringworkouts CORNING The Cardinals field hockey team beat Lassen 3-0 re- cently. Goalie Maggie Aulabaugh had 4 saves and Whitney Armstrong took 3 shots. Angela Diaz scored off a pass from Gabby Peterson. Armstrong scored off a pass from Diaz and then again with a strong hit from just inside the circle. Diaz, Armstrong, Cassie Carter and Chelsea Hardwick worked well on the forward line passing. "We finished the play and fin- ished in the circle for the score," said coach Teresa Lamb. Brooke Barr inserted the ball on the short corners and finished playing the ball through. "Ronnie Hammond played with desire and had her best game of the season," Lamb said. Lamb said the team took free hits fast and kept up the pace of the game. The Cardinals are scheduled to host Davis at 4:45 p.m. Wednes- day, Oct. 7. FIELD HOCKEY Cardinals shut out Lassen 3-0 The Associated Press EDEN PRAIRIE, MINN. The Min- nesota Vikings have traded line- backer Gerald Hodges to the San Francisco 49ers for rookie cen- ter Nick Easton and a sixth- round draft pick. Vikings general manager Rick Spielman announced the deal Tuesday. Hodges, a backup outside linebacker in Minnesota's 4-3 scheme his first two seasons, was the starter this season at middle linebacker in the base defense. Rookie Eric Kendricks re- placed him in the nickel pack- age, though. Kendricks has developed enough that the Vikings consid- ered Hodges expendable at a po- sition of depth. The Vikings traded a sixth- round pick for guard Jeremiah Sirles, so they got one back. Easton was acquired by the 49ers in a deal with the Balti- more Ravens last month. He was undrafted out of Har- vard. NFL Vikings trade LB Hodges to 49ers for rookie center AmariCooperleadsNFLrook- ies with 24catches, 339yards and two touchdowns, num- bers which a quarter of the way through his first season project to 96catches, 1,356 yards and eight scores. RAIDERS Cooperonlystandout thus far in 2015 dra FULLSTORYONPAGEB2 By Howie Rumberg The Associated Press NEW YORK Dallas Keuchel and the Houston Astros defied expectations all season long. Facing his biggest test yet, the bearded ace beat the odds and the Yankees once again. Pitching on three days' rest for the first time in his career, Keuchel baffled the Yankees for six innings of three-hit ball, Colby Rasmus and Carlos Go- mez homered, and the Astros blanked New York 3-0 Tuesday night in the American League wild-card game. The orange-clad Astros, who secured their spot in this win- ner-take-all game on the last day of the regular season, now advance to the AL Division Se- ries. They will face the defending AL champion Royals, start- ing Thursday night in Kan- sas City. "To come to Yankee Stadium and play that well was truly re- markable," said Keuchel, the AL's only 20-game winner. Aggressive from the start in their first playoff appearance as an American League club and for the first time since be- ing swept by the White Sox in the 2005 World Series, the As- tros came out swinging against Masahiro Tanaka in front of a revved-up Yankee Stadium crowd. Rasmus sent Tanaka's first pitch of the second inning soar- ing into deep right field. Gomez, who only had five plate appear- ances after missing nearly two weeks with a strained chest muscled in mid-September, connected on the first offering of the fourth. American League hits leader Jose Altuve had an RBI single off All-Star reliever Dellin Betances in the seventh. Reliever Tony Sipp walked one, and Will Harris and Luke Gregerson were each perfect for an inning to finish the three-hit- ter. The boos from the 50,113 stunned fans in the crowd grew with each out as Gregerson closed for a save. The Astros raced to an area between first and second after Brian McCann grounded out to end it and jumped up and down in a big scrum. As he was coming off the field, Keuchel pumped his fists as a group of cheering Astros supporters in orange shirts behind the visit- ing dugout. It was a celebration a few years in the making — the As- tros have averaged 104 losses in their last four seasons. In a matchup of two teams that surprised many by build- ing big division leads before wasting them late, the upstart Astros, just two years removed from an 111-loss season, looked the more comfortable team in the October limelight. The Yankees limped into their first postseason since 2012, los- ing six of seven and, despite all the talk of a postseason reset for the struggling lineup, New York went bust against a new nemesis in their first — and only — post- season game of the post-Derek Jeter era. "Just didn't get it done," man- ager Joe Girardi said. Fans taunted the 27-year-old Keuchel the moment he walked to the outfield for warmups. Then he toyed with the Yankees from the first batter, striking out Brett Gardner looking. Gardner, Brian McCann, Chris Young and Girardi all had words with plate umpire Eric Cooper as Keuchel cruised through New York's lineup for the third time this season. The AL Cy Young Award con- tender held the Yankees score- less for 16 innings in two regu- lar-season starts. AL WILD CARD KEUCHEL, ASTROS SHOCK YANKEES Houston moves on to face Kansas City KATHY WILLENS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Houston Astros relief pitcher Luke Gregerson, le , Carlos Gomez, and Dallas Keuchel celebrate a er the Astros shut out the New York Yankees 3-0in the American League wild card game at Yankee Stadium in New York on Tuesday. Veteran cornerback David Amerson looks back on the Washington Redskins' decision to cut him less than a month into the season and can't help but smile. Amerson has bounced back well. NFL Cornerback Amerson finds a job with Raiders The Spartans will host the Foothill swim team at 3:30 p.m. today. On Thursday, Red Bluff will host girls' golf at 1 p.m., girls' tennis at 3:30p.m. and volleyball at 7p.m. against Enterprise. RED BLUFF Spartans host swim, golf, tennis, volleyball Officials say they will cut back on volunteers, reduce staff- ing at dozens of test events and trim costs for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. BALANCING BUDGETS Rio Olympics cut costs with Brazil in recession FULL STORY ON PAGE B2 VEGAN PAGE 2 ASTROS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, October 7, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1